<p>Do grad schools care about your research experience/research potential if you're not applying for a Phd or research-based MS? For instance, lots of top schools offer one year M.S./M.Eng degrees with no thesis. What do these schools look for in applicants?</p>
<p>More than anything, they look for your grades and GRE scores.</p>
<p>Can somebody please comment on the competitiveness in gaining admission to terminal master’s programs? I’m considering terminal master’s and this would be a big help for me.</p>
<p>It is no where near as competitive to get in to terminal masters as PhD programs. Look at each school for these stats: How may applications are submitted? How many admissions offers are made? How big is the incoming class? The offer stat is often overlooked but consider the ratio of offers to enrolled to see how much leverage the school has. If that ratio is over 50% it is highly desirable among applicants. If it is less, then the new applicant has more leverage (especially when their credentials are strong).</p>
<p>There was some talk about engineering programs getting to qualify as Professional Science Master’s programs (terminal, professional degrees). PSM’s have acceptance rates from 50%-85% because they identify good “fit” candidates early or before the application process. All the PSM’s are listed at [Science</a> Masters > ScienceMasters Home](<a href=“http://www.sciencemasters.com%5DScience”>http://www.sciencemasters.com) and you can search by discipline.</p>